Justin W. Flory: Stepping out of Fedora: May to August 2017

Transparency is the best policy and communication is key. This is why I felt it was important to make this announcement ahead of time to make clear expectations for the coming months. This past December, I was happy to accept a Production Engineer Intern position at Jump Trading, LLC. From June to August, I will be working at their office in Chicago, IL. I’m excited for this opportunity to learn from some of the sharpest people in the industry and to leave my own mark as an intern during the summer.

During the hiring process, I was happy to ensure that contributing to open source software would still be possible during my time of employment. I saw during my on-site interview that Jump Trading employs open source software throughout the company but also contributes back to open source, either with hours or donations. However, while I am still able to contribute to Fedora, I do not anticipate being able to maintain the level of activity that I contribute at now during my internship.

Stepping out from May to August

Due to exams and personal travel plans in May followed by an almost immediate departure to Chicago in early June, I will be stepping out of Fedora beginning in early May. I hope to spend time with friends and family before departing for Chicago, so my estimate is a little generous to the benefit of being realistic. My internship will finish around August 20th, 2017, so I hope to begin my normal levels of contribution around this time.

It will be challenging for me to step back for this long amount of time, after my involvement with Fedora has become such a hugepartofmylife. However, it is only a temporary change, and the time off ends near Flock 2017. So I will have a lot to get caught up on before the conference begins!

The only area I hope to stay partially active with is the Fedora Magazine to continue my post as the editor-in-chief. While I still don’t anticipate being fully involved, I hope to help with editing and to write a few articles during the summer as well.